As Benji Marshall closes in on his first NRL grand final appearance in 16 years, Pat Richards’ memories of his iconic Marshall-inspired try in the 2005 decider are as vivid as ever.
That Richards try is the topic of thousands of conversations as Marshall zeroes in on the Rabbitohs‘ grand final clash with the Panthers on Sunday.
It’s also the subject of thousands of searches on YouTube this week, as rugby league fans marvel at Marshall’s longevity and reminisce on possibly the greatest try in grand final folklore.
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The movements of Marshall and Richards, and the commentary of Nine’s Ray Warren, are burnt into the memories of pundits.
“Marshall skips away, Marshall skips away,” Warren says as the 20-year-old livewire beats two North Queensland defenders deep in Wests Tigers territory.
“Marshall’s still going, Marshall’s got Richards coming up outside, now inside,” Warren adds as Marshall tears down the left edge and pops a flick pass to the towering winger.
“Richards, pursued, he pushes (Rod) Jensen away, Pat Richards, Pat Richards has scored a magnificent try, length-of-the-field stuff!”
“When he first came on the scene,” Richards recalls of Marshall in an interview with Wide World of Sports, “he was just so entertaining and I don’t think we’d seen anyone like him before.
“And then he cemented that in a grand final by doing something amazing that’s still being played today.
“Obviously we went on to win the game. We played a big part in it and it’s just amazing to look back on. It takes you back to the emotion and the feeling of the time and feeling the crowd roar and go crazy. It was very special.
“It’s quite an amazing thing to still get asked about it. Every year it seems to get replayed as one of the good moments … (I was) very fortunate to be in that position and to relive that is unreal.”
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Richards says Marshall’s grand final magic “typified” how the Tigers of 2005 played.
The Kiwi had orchestrated another otherworldly try just over two months earlier, as Tim Sheens‘ youthful Tigers carved out a 46-6 win over the Sharks.
In one superhuman play, Marshall blitzed Cronulla with three lethal steps and hit Richards with a long-range missile on the right wing, before Richards lobbed a ‘basketball’ pass over Sharks fullback David Peachey to set up a Daniel Fitzhenry try.
“At the start of Benji’s career that’s the way he played,” Richards says.
“He typified the way we played, as well. We just saw what was in front of us and we just played footy.
“It was a really entertaining team to be involved in. Our forwards passed the ball a fair bit to our halves and they got it out wide to the outside backs. We just really moved the ball around. We scored so many tries from our own half that year and it was just a really enjoyable year to play footy.
“A year later Melbourne brought the wrestling tactics into the game, so it was sort of the last time you could play that sort of footy.”
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While Marshall stormed onto the NRL stage as an extraordinary attacking weapon, tormenting the opposition with his speed, step, no-look pass and flick pass, his game has changed dramatically since.
As he’s done in just about every game this season, he’ll pull on the No.14 jumper for Sunday’s decider and slot in wherever coach Wayne Bennett needs him.
“He’s a totally different player to what he was,” Richards says.
“He was a guy that saw what was in front of him, he ran the ball a lot more, he threw huge passes. Not all of them stuck, but he always thought he could win a game in one play and just bring it out and play that way.
“Now he’s so much more calculated and so much more of a game manager and a smart footballer.
“He’s turned himself around where he can play anywhere on the field, and I think he’s done that this year. He’s played in the forwards, he’s played in the outside backs, he’s played everywhere.
“It’s awesome to see his transition and to see the way he’s progressed and to see how influential he is in a game now shows you how amazing ‘the kid’ is.
“He’s so competitive to still have the fire in the belly at his age to get in another grand final.”
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